


the steps only club

by Val_Creative



Series: Stranger Things Drabble-Palooza 2019 [25]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 1980s, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Byers Family Stay in Hawkins, First Meetings, Friendship, Gay Will Byers, Gen, High School, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Robin Buckley, Minor Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Near Future, Post-Canon, Queer History, Some Humor, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: She didn’t think anyone else in Hawkins was like her. Robin introduces herself to Will Byers outside of their high school.





	the steps only club

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by drew (AO3): "Robin and Will. Maybe she helps him accept himself, tells him that he is not the only gay kid in Hawkins." I absolutely loved doing this. They deserve to bond about being the only two gay kids in town. And pretty much all the Gay-Straight Alliances I went to were cishets talking about shit they didn't understand AND talking over me, the only gay kid, when the sensitive topics came up. Put that feeling into Robin's perspective. I hope you guys like it.

*

She's very sure that people like her didn't exist in Robin's hometown.

Having a Gay-Straight Alliance at Hawkins High School seems pointless. At least to her.

They'll just talk over her, debating about human rights, the politicization and transparency of Robin's own sexuality, what it means to be _out_…

Robin huffs, folding her arms and peering up to the school's entrance. Her classmates disappear in, giddy and gossiping to each other. There must be at least 40 other high schoolers heading to the same room. Good luck with that.

She turns her head, brows furrowing as Robin notices a younger, skinny boy in an ugly bowl-cut curled up at the bottom of the concrete steps.

Will Byers. Everyone knows Will Byers.

The kid who got lost in Merrick Woods. The FBI got involved and his death had been reported as faked. Something about a government conspiracy. Robin didn't believe it two years ago. She does now.

"Hey," Robin greets him, jumping down the high school entrance's steps and plopping down on her bottom. "Mind if I hang out?"

He doesn't answer her, looking down at the zipper on his backpack. Will's thumb fiddles with it.

"You thinking about going in?"

"_I dunno_," Will replies, saying this meekly.

"Just from experience… the people usually going to these meetings aren't afraid of being outed." Robin shrugs, slinging her arms over her bare scabbed knees. "They got nothing to hide in a dinky little conservative town like this when they're straight as an arrow… but you and me?" Robin points between her and Will, grinning in knowing. "We're stuck out on the steps."

At the flash of apprehension on Will's face, she makes a '_psshh_!' noise, waving a hand idly.

"Don't worry. This is a conversation for The Steps Only Club." Robin's grin widens apart as she blows a pink bubblegum bubble. "Two members permitted at a time."

Will doesn't look away from her, but it seems like he's shrinking into himself. "My friends don't know I came here."

"Do they know about… you?"

At the solemn nod, Robin perks up. "And they're still your friends," she declares, impressed. "Righteous! My friends were jerks."

"We could be friends," Will blurts out helpfully. His features pinken. "If… if that's okay…"

Robin laughs. "Totally."

He's a sweet kid. She didn't to know him like Dustin or Steve or Erica. But, Robin guesses she's not the only one in town now.

"What's he like?"

Robin's question drifts over them.

"_Kind_," Will murmurs, fiddling with his zipper again but smiling. "Mike listens to me."

"Mike has a name," she teases, watching his cheeks darken pink again. "The boy dating Eleven, right?"

Awkward silence.

"… I like Tammy Thompson."

"Didn't she move to Nashville?"

"Yep," Robin sighs out, dropping her head to her knees broodingly. "She didn't know I existed." But honestly what's worse… the person you liked not knowing you were there or them always being inches away from you…

Robin's sneaker nudges deliberately to Will's leg.

"You like ice cream?"

He's only a kid, and growing up gay would be tough, so she invites Will to join her at the park's ice cream stand. He agrees, Will's expression brightening. "Hold on," Robin says, getting out her utility box-cutter. With a dramatic, outstanding flourish, she taps on the concrete step.

"I now declare the first official meeting of The Steps Only Club to be… _continued_."

*


End file.
